The Grapes Of Wrath: A Comparative Analysis

1465 Words3 Pages

In the novels Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel (1989) and The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (1939), both authors explore the enduring strength of the human spirit, complex family dynamics, and the power of hope to create change in one’s world. The message of both texts is that people are both big and small; they can enact powerful change in the world around them, but even the most righteous change enacted by one person alone cannot affect great numbers.

Esquivel’s Tita, bound to her home by family tradition as she falls in love, and Steinbeck’s Tom, forced from his home by the Oklahoma Dust Bowl Crisis, both live in what are possibly the most trying times in their lives, but they both endure against frightful odds. Tita is trapped …show more content…

In Like Water for Chocolate, it is mostly female figures that dominate Tita’s family life: her cold and sometimes violent Mama Elena, her jealous sister Rosaura, and Nacha the family cook, who raised Tita and is essentially her mother figure. Within her own family, Tita feels out of place and alone, and feels most comfortable with the one member of the household not related to her. This speaks volumes about how her mother and sister treat her - while Tita strives for freedom to love, freedom to be an individual, and freedom from the family ranch, her mother and sister are the direct opposition to her fulfilment of these goals. Mama Elena still grieves her dead husband, and thus denies Tita any chance to love when she herself cannot. Tita is also forced to care for Mama Elena, and is therefore unable to leave the ranch or form experiences of her own. Tita’s sister Rosaura marries Tita’s lover and attempts to take him away from her for good - in the process breaking Tita’s heart. However, by the end of the novel Tita’s mother and sister are dead, and Tita has the freedom to do all the things she wanted. From this, Tita emerges stronger, because her family’s treatment made her strong enough to be able to change her own

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of John Steinbeck's 'The Grapes Of Wrath'

    1845 Words  | 4 Pages

    When times get tough, many people turn away from everyone and everything. It must be part of human nature to adopt an independent attitude when faced with troubles. It is understandable because most people do not want to trouble their loved ones when they are going through problems, so it is easier to turn away than stick together. Maybe their family is going through a rough patch and they reason they would be better off on their own. This path of independence and solitude may not always be the best option for them or their family, though. Often times it is more beneficial for everyone to work through the problem together. It is not always the easiest or most desirable option, but most times it is the most efficient and it will get results in the long run. In The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck makes this point very clear through several characters. Many characters throughout

    Read More

  • Comparing Steinbeck's Standard In The Grapes Of Wrath And The Road

    1473 Words  | 3 Pages

    In two differing stories of departure, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and The Road by Cormac McCarthy, Steinbeck’s standard for a writer is met by the raw human emotions exhibited in the main characters’ success and defeat.

    Read More

  • Grapes Of Wrath Compare And Contrast Essay

    722 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck had many comparisons from the movie and the book. In 1939, this story was to have some of the readers against the ones that kept the American people in poverty held responsible for their actions. This unique story was about the Joad’s family, who were migrant workers looking for a good decent job. They were also farmers from Oklahoma that are now striving to find some good work and success for their family in California. This novel was one of Steinbeck’s best work he has ever done. It was in fact an Academy Award movie in 1940. Both the movie and the novel are one of Steinbeck’s greatest masterpieces on both the filmmaking and the novel writing. Both the novel and film are mainly the same in the beginning of the story and towards the end. There were some few main points that Steinbeck took out from the book and didn’t mention them in the movie. “The Grapes of Wrath is a

    Read More

  • Common People in John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men

    1235 Words  | 3 Pages

    John Steinbeck’s novels The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men reveal and confront the struggles of common individuals in their day-to-day lives. The Grapes of Wrath creates a greater verisimilitude than Of Mice and Men as it illustrates the lives of Oklahoma farmers driven west during the Dustbowl of the late 1930’s. Of Mice and Men deals with a more personal account of two poor men and the tragic ending of their relationship. Steinbeck expresses his concern for multiple social issues in both The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men. Tightly-knit relationships appear prominently in both books and provide the majority of the conflicts that occur. The decency of common people is written about to a great extent in The Grapes of Wrath and is also prevalent through numerous examples in Of Mice and Men. As in all effective writing that bares the soul of the author, each novel reveals Steinbeck’s core beliefs.

    Read More

  • How Does Steinbeck Overcome Homelessness In The Grapes Of Wrath

    716 Words  | 2 Pages

    In conclusion the Grapes of Wrath is a literary masterpiece that portrays the struggles of man as he overcomes the adversity of homelessness, death, and the wrath of prejudice. Steinbeck fully explores each faucet coherently within the boundaries of the Joad family’s trials and

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

    560 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the novel The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck the author uses excessive profanity, religion, and migrants to show the hard times family’s had to go through in the 1930’s. Most people believe that Steinbeck novel is too inappropriate for high school students because of its content. This novel should be banned from the high school curriculum.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck

    1153 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Grapes of Wrath is a novel written by John Steinbeck, which focuses on an Oklahoman family that is evicted from their farm during an era of depression caused by the Dust Bowl. The Joad family alongside thousands of other refugees (also affected by the dirty thirties) migrates west towards California seeking employment and a new home. John Steinbeck’s purpose for writing this novel was to inform his audience of how many of their fellow Americans were being mistreated and of the tribulations they faced in order to attain regain what they once had. As a result, The Grapes of Wrath triggered its audience’s sympathy for the plight of the Dust Bowl farmers and their families.

    Read More

  • Grapes Of Wrath

    1368 Words  | 3 Pages

    From a more romantic perspective one might be inclined to say the main theme behind this story is choices made by man as a unit when obstacles and circumstances arise, perhaps perseverance through hardship. But this book rarely displays romantic or idealistic interactions among the characters or moments in the plot. Although there is one example of slight romantisicm at end, the book for the most part is an excellent illustration of naturalism in a piece of literature. To shine this main theme under a naturalistic light, the reader must be allowed to examine the deep psychological, emotional and physical connection between man and his land so often demonstrated and greatly emphaisized throughout the book. The cliffsnotes state that this connection is a basic fundament to the Jeffersonian agrarian theory. A great example of when Steinbeck incorporates this philosophy is when the representatives of the bank are telling the tenant farmers that they need to get off the land. They feel that since they lived and died on the land, it is rightfully theirs. "Funny thing how it is. If a man owns a little property, that property is in him, it's part of him, and it's like him (37)." Since the bond between the farmer and his property is so strong, once it is broken the people loose their self-respect, dignity, and meaning. Steinbeck uses this idea to foreshadow and help explain the events of Grandpa's death and to further drive the ideas Casy preaches. Casy suggests at the funeral that Granpa died the moment he was torn from his land. He also speculates that only if the band together and make sacrifices for the unit, the Joads and the Wilsons can they survive. "We on'y got a hundred an' fifty dollars. They take forty to bury Grampa an' we won't get to California (140)." They decide that for the family the best thing to do is to bury him on the road.

    Read More

  • Historical Analysis of The Grapes of Wrath

    1329 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Grapes of Wrath displays one of America’s greatest stumbles during the establishment of our country. The story follows a family hit with the struggles of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. Drought, economic hardship, agricultural changes, and bank foreclosures rip the Joads from the quaint town of Sallisaw, Oklahoma, forcing them to take the dreadful journey across the country. Nevertheless, the Joads drag their feet along the trodden path, dragged on by an unassured perseverance. The Joads were driven by a burning fire of desperation, grounded by the hope promised by orange handbills laden with the deceitful lies of the rapacious. For the hopeless seek hope, an elusive destiny sated by lying promises. Steinbeck’s unique style of writing inculcates an abortive hope in the minds of the readers, instilling a lust for the untouched and unloved land which in turn reveals the impossibility of the “American Dream”; through complex symbols and innovative themes, Steinbeck also educates the ignorant, blinded by the vague history books that blot out the full intensity of the calamities and suffering endured by hopeful Okies on their treacherous journey into the unknown.

    Read More

  • Grapes of Wrath Essay: Steinbeck's Powerful Style

    981 Words  | 2 Pages

    Noble, Donald R. ed. The Steinbeck Question: New Essays in Criticism. Troy, New York, 1993.

    Read More

  • The Powerful Ending of The Grapes of Wrath

    1143 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Everybody wants a little piece of lan'. I read plenty of books out here. Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land. It's just in their head. They're all the time talkin' about it, but its jus' in their head.” (Steinbeck) The Grapes of Wrath is most often categorized as an American Realist novel. It was written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. As a result of this novel, Steinbeck won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and prominently cited the novel when he won the Nobel Prize a little over twenty years after the text’s publication. This text follows the Joad family through the Great Depression. It begins in Oklahoma, watching as the family is driven from their home by drought and economic changes. Within the introduction of the novel the living conditions is described, “Every moving thing lifted the dust into the air: The walking man lifted a thin layer as high as his waist, and a wagon lifted the dust as high as the fence tops and an automobile boiled a cloud behind it.” (Grapes, 1) This novel is and will remain one of the most significant novels of the Great Depression. Despite its controversial nature it is timeless. In fact, the ending of this text is one of the most controversial pieces of literature written during the time period, and has never accurately made its way into film. The ending to John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath is the most significant portion of the novel due to its historical accuracy as well as its message about the American spirit.

    Read More

  • Making Hard Choices in The Grapes of Wrath

    905 Words  | 2 Pages

    In literature as in life, people often find that they must make difficult choices in order to survive.  The reasons behind their decisions and the results of their subsequent actions affect our opinion of them.  In the Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck, the author portrayed situations where two main characters became involved.  The nature of their choices, the reasons behind their decisions, and the results that followed affected them greatly.  However, the choices that they made were surmounted successfully.  Ma Joad and Tom Joad are two strong characters who overcame laborious predicaments.  Their powerful characteristics helped to encourage those that were struggling.

    Read More

  • Comparing and Contrasting the Novel and Movie Version of The Grapes of Wrath

    956 Words  | 2 Pages

    John Steinbeck wrote the The Grapes of Wrath in 1939 to rouse its readers against those who were responsible for keeping the American people in poverty. The Grapes of Wrath tells the story of the Joad family, migrant farmers from Oklahoma traveling to California in search of an illusion of prosperity. The novel's strong stance stirred up much controversy, as it was often called Communist propaganda, and banned from schools due to its vulgar language. However, Steinbeck's novel is considered to be his greatest work. It won the Pulitzer Prize, and later became an Academy Award winning movie in 1940. The novel and the movie are both considered to be wonderful masterpieces, epitomizing the art of filmmaking and novel-writing.

    Read More

  • Steinbeck's Social Commentary in The Grapes of Wrath

    679 Words  | 2 Pages

    Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath is a realistic novel that mimics life and offers social commentary too. It offers many windows on real life in midwest America in the 1930s. But it also offers a powerful social commentary, directly in the intercalary chapters and indirectly in the places and people it portrays. Typical of very many, the Joads are driven off the land by far away banks and set out on a journey to California to find a better life. However the journey breaks up the family, their dreams are not realized and their fortunes disappear. What promised to be the land of milk and honey turns to sour grapes. The hopes and dreams of a generation turned to wrath. Steinbeck opens up this catastrophe for public scrutiny.

    Read More

  • Criticism Of The Grapes Of Wrath

    1079 Words  | 3 Pages

    “The grapes of wrath, by john steinbeck, was first published in 1939 and would achieve both the national book award and pulitzer prize that same year. Noted Steinbeck scholar John Timmerman, in summation of the novel’s impact, said, ‘The Grapes of Wrath may well be the most thoroughly discussed novel- in criticism, reviews, and college classrooms- of 20th century American literature. ’”(“Banned Books Awareness”). Despite all of the praises and awards The Grapes of Wrath received, it still produced many outcries and riots claiming Steinbeck used his novel to span the United States’ social and political way of doing things. ”At times the novel literally fuelled the fires of public debate as local communities burned copies in protest.”

    Read More

More about The Grapes Of Wrath: A Comparative Analysis

Open Document